ARSENE WENGER admitted he wouldn't have paid to watch his side and does not want to see them play like that again.

But sometimes the only thing that counts is the result. And as Arsenal paraded round the Millennium Stadium after picking Sir Alex Ferguson's pocket, the first psychological blow of NEXT season had already been struck.

To watch Wenger, the ultimate football purist, transform himself into the arch-pragmatist, was neither pretty nor encouraging.

The Frenchman had spoken before the match of being "faithful to the way we play football", adding "that means we cannot go out there and suddenly wait and not go forward. When we have the ball we will keep playing."

Yet those principles were ditched as Wenger changed his formation and his tactical approach, adopting a five-man midfield based solely around negating United. It did not work, ceding the initiative to Fergie's team as Dennis Bergkamp - who may still have the brains, but clearly not the legs - found himself isolated while the superb Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo ran rampant.

Where Wenger and his players had spoken of their determination not to be physically intimidated, they turned out to be mentally cowed by United's dynamism, offering precious little in response. Had they lost, if Rooney had enjoyed more luck in front of goal, or the real Ruud van Nistelrooy turned up rather than his doppelganger, and if there had been no place for the Jens Lehmann shoot-out heroics, it would have been viewed as a cowardly mistake.

For Wenger, though, the 'how' was not important. All that mattered, perhaps more deeply than ever before, was that his Gunners emerged with the trophy in their hands, leaving United to reflect on a season which has brought them ongoing controversy, a series of protests by fans, and no silverware whatsoever.

Wenger said: "I wouldn't be happy playing every week like that. Being cautious is not our game.

"But it was the last chance for us to get a trophy this season, and I felt it was important without Thierry Henry not to concede the first goal, so that's why I went for a more cautious approach. "I said: 'OK, for one day let's just try to get what we really want at any price' and it worked. But I am not really convinced that you have to play like that always.

"It was not deliberate at some stage that we said 'we will give them the ball'. I thought we would keep the ball much better. In the first half, it was even. In the second half, we just died."

Yet it was a case of life after that on-field death for the Gunners, with skipper Patrick Vieira making Paul Scholes pay the price for his moment of weakness.As Vieira's right-footer found the top corner - he had missed in the UEFA Cup Final shoot-out defeat against Galatasaray in 2000 - all the frustrations that Arsenal have suffered against United over the years disappeared.

They could forget the Villa Park semi in 1999, when Bergkamp missed from the spot and Ryan Giggs scored his wonder goal.

They could dismiss the 6-1 mauling of two years later. They could ignore the Battle of Old Trafford Part Two and even the home humiliation of February.

"If you would have been at the place in the centre of my heart during the game you would felt how much it meant," said Wenger.

"It was a tense game. At some stage I needed to be really tough, because I really couldn't see how we could score a goal.

"I was thinking 'Do we really go for a poker game, or keep our cautious approach to the end'. It was not easy. I felt that no matter what I did today, we did not have the resources to put them under pressure.

"As a team, we were not as sharp as we can be. But we are so resilient, and our team spirit is so strong.

"When you have such solidarity in the team, such mental unity, even when you don't play well, you can win."

The manner of the victory did them little credit, as Wenger effectively accepted, although Jose Antonio Reyes' last-second red card was harsh.

Lehmann made a collection of vital saves from Rooney, Rio Ferdinand was a fraction offside when he converted early on and the ball fizzed across the Arsenal box especially, when Ronaldo tormented Lauren.

But van Nistelrooy endured a costly nightmare, failing to connect with either the target or the ball from a series of openings and was then foiled by substitute Freddie Ljungberg's amazing block on the line.

Arsenal's only proper shot of the entire 120 minutes was Robin van Persie's free-kick in extra-time and Wenger agreed that it had proved a mirror image of the 2001 final when his team had battered Liverpool only to fall victim to Michael Owen's predatory instincts.

Offered the chance to extend the verbal hand of friendship to Fergie, Wenger refused to do so and then began to twist the knife.

"I have sympathy for Manchester United, because they played very well, and it is difficult to lose games like that when you have the chances," he said.

"Of course it is a blow for Manchester United. You know every day you read you haven't won anything, and you cannot keep people happy when you don't win things."

For Wenger, though, it will get easier. Whether they deserved it or not, Arsenal have something from a campaign that was derailed at Old Trafford and they will return with a spring in their step and a determination to dethrone Chelsea.